Art of cleaning cylindrical containers



- Feb. 17, 1942. T. J. VERDE N ART OF CLEANING CYLINDRICAL CONTAINERS Filed Sept. 50, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR V A TTO RNEYi Feb. 17, 1942.

T. J, 'VERDEN ART OF CLEANING CYLINDRICAL CONTAINERS Filed Sept. 30, 1940 2 Sheets-Sfieet N; IINVENTOR ATTORNEY- Patented Eel). 17,1942

NT OFFICE ART OF CLEANING CYIJNDBICAL CONTAINERS Theodore J. Verden, Milwaukee; Wis. I Application September 30, 1940, Serial No. 359,062

13 Claims .This invention relates to improvements in the art of cleaning cylindrical containers.

Heretofore, cylindrical containers such as oil,

varnish, paint, or grease drums, have been in-.

dividually immersed in a bath of cleaning fluid and suitably moved in said fluid to effect interior and exterior cleaning.- Prior methods have been slowand not well suited for the rapid handling continuously fed into one end of an elongated tank and caused to travel endwise in line formation while being rotated and wherein the cleansed containers are continuously removed from the opposite end of said tank.

' A further object of the invention is to provide an improved method as above described and cleansing of large numbers of containers,

wherein the containers are supported in the' tank with one end lower than the other and wherein rotation is imparted to the containers to cause them to travel endwise by gravity with a relatively slow progressive movement toward the discharge end of the tank, each container being subjected both on the inside and outside .to the action of the cleaning fluid for the same period of time and for a period just s'ufllcient to effect proper cleansing.

A further object of the invention is to provide a method of cleansing containers having openings therein wherein the containers after being fed into the tank, are automatically quickly filled with a sufficient amount of fluid to cause the containers to sink into contact with the submerged supporting means, whereas with prior methods it has been necessary to manually hold the containers down in. the solution until a sufiicient amount has entered the drum open ings to overcome the original buoyancy.

A further object of' the invention is to provide apparatus for effecting commercial 8X}- ploltation of the above method.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide improved container cleaning apparatus spaced rotatable rollers extending longitudinally and continuously throughout the length of said tank for imparting rotation to containers supported longitudinally in line formation on the same rollers, said rollers being inclined downwardly toward the discharge end of the tank so that the rotating containers will be progressively moved in an endwise direction by gravity toward said discharge end.

A further object .of the invention is to provide container cleansing apparatus wherein the containers may be rapidly rotated to effect proper internal or' external cleaning without having the drums jump off of the rotating supports.

A further object of the invention is to provide apparatus as above described constructed to simultaneously handle a plurality of parallel rows of containers.

A' still further object of the invention is to provide in combination with container cleaning apparatus, means for facilitating the emptying of cleaning fluid from the containers at the discharge end, and for facilitating the removal of the cleansed containers from the tank.

A further object of the invention is to provide a construction as above described wherein the submerged rollers are hollow to provide a sealed airchamber therein whereby the buoyant force of the liquid acting on the submerged rollers tends to counterbalance the weight of the rollersand the weight of the drums thereon. Thus undue wear on the bearings is avoided.

With the above and other objects in view the invention consists of the improvements in the art of cleaning cylindrical containers and all its parts and combinations as set forth in the claims ,.and all equivalents thereof.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating one embodiment of the preferred form of the invention, in which the same reference numerals designate the same parts in all of the views:

away and shown in section, and the dot-anddash linesindicating a raising and tilting position of the container hoisting mechanism;

including an elongated tank, and transversely 'Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line '2-2 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the container cleaning tank, parts being broken away and shown in section.

Referring more particularly to the drawings.

the numeral 5 designates a tank, formed of metal or other suitable material, and having sides 6 and I, ends 3 and 9, and a bottom I. Inclined skirts II and I! may be connected to the upper edges of the side walls 6 and I and may extend the entire length of the tank. The end walls 8 and 9 may have extensions l3 and- M formed with upwardly converging side edges,

tank, and through exterior bearings 24. One of the trunnions 2| may be driven from an outside source of power and may carry rigidly mounted sprocket wheels and 26. The sprocket wheel 25 may be connected by an endless chain 21 with a sprocket wheel 28 on the trunnion 22, and the sprocket wheel 26 may be connected by an end-- less chain 29 with a sprocket wheel 30 on the trunnion 20, and thus all of the rollers may be driven simultaneously at the same speed and in the same direction.

While the drawings show the use of three rollers for handling two rows of the containers, it is obvious that two rollers only may be employed to handle one row of containers, or a greater number than three may be employed to accommodate and handle more than two rows of con tainers simultaneously. V

The tank is preferably supported on wedge shaped members 3| which rest on an inclined supporting floor 'orplatform 32. As illustrated in Fig. 1, the support for the tank is such ,that the discharge end is lower than the opposite end, and the rollers within the tank are correspondingly inclined. Theamount of inclination may be increased by withdrawing the wedges 3| a desired distance from beneath the discharge (and of the tank. i

It is to be noted that when three rollers are employed the center roller I6 is slightly higher than the outside rollers I5 and I1 (see Fig. 2).

.This tends to keep the containers in the two rows from striking one another during movement.

While the containers may be removed manually from the discharge end of the apparatus, it is preferred to utilize mechanism for facilitating this operation and for facilitating the emptying of the cleansed containers. This mechanism may comprise an overhead supporting a'rm 33, connected as at 34 to a suitable point of support, and having a brace 35 connected to its outer end, said brace being connectable to an-- other point of. support (not shown) While the hoisting mechanism may be of varied form and detail, it is preferred to have a pneumatic cylinder 36-pivotally supported from the lower side of the arm 33 as at 31, said cylinder being connected by an air hose 38 with a suitable source of compressed air to cause movement of a piston 39 within the cylinder. The piston is formed with a stem 40 which extends exteriorly and which is pivotally connected as at 42 with a hoisting arm 43. The inner end of the hoisting arm 43 is pivotally connected as at 44 to anextension 45 of the supporting arm 33, and the outer end of thehoisting arm 43 may be equipped with a depending eye 46. A chain 41 may have its upper end hooked through the e -e as at 48 and mayhave its lower end equipp the level of the rollers as indicated by the numeral 52. The containersto be cleaned, which in the illustration are metal drums 53 having the usual openings 54, and 55, are placed in the receiving end of the tank with the closures for the openings 54 and 55 removed. The barrels may be fed in manually, or suitable automatic feeding mechanism maybe provided. Where the containers are inserted manually it is convenient to lower them down the inclined skirts II and i2. When the drum is first inserted it tends to float on the liquid above and out of contact with the rollers. With prior methods it 'has been necessary to manually hold the drum with its opening 55 submerged until ,suflicient liquid has entered the drum to cause it to sink downwardly. With the present invention, however, as soon as the end of the inserted drum contacts the end of the next adjacent rotating drum, the. contact will cause the newly inserted drum to spin and water will quickly enter the opening 55 and automatically cause sinking of the drum onto the rollers. Thus it is unnecessary to manually hold the newly inserted drum down in the liquid. The rotating rollers l5, l6, and II will cause rotation of all the barrels simultaneously, bringing all portions of the exterior into contact with the cleaning fluid and causing the cleaning fluid within the barrel to be sloshed around in the barrel to effect interior cleansing. In view of the fact that the rollers are inclined toward the discharge end of the tank the rotation of the barrels on the rollers will cause the barrels. to

with a swivel 49. 76

creep steadily toward the discharge end. As soon as the barrels at the inlet end of the apparatus have moved forwardly a sufllcient distance, then additional barrels are fed into the tank, so that there are two rows of barrels progressively moving in an endwise direction toward the discharge end while being simultaneously rotated. As soon as a barrel reaches the discharge end the supporting arm 33 for the hoisting mechanism isswung' on the pivot bolt 34 to a suitable position and the tongs 5| are engaged with the end rims of the-barrel as at 56 while the hoisting arm 43 is in the lowered full line position of Fig. 1. Next compressed air is admitted through the hose 38 to the cylinder 35 causing the hoisting arm 33 to be elevated to the dot-and-dash line position.

The raised barrel may then be tilted on the pivot 5|, as shown by dot-and-dash lines in Fig. 1, to empty the cleaning fluid therefrom, and when emptied the raised barrel may be swung clear of the tank and lowered. The barrels arethereperiod. The length of time may be varied by varying the incline for the tank.-

The rollers |5, l6, and I! are hollow cylinders with sealed seams and ends whereby there is a liquid-tight air chamber in each roller. With this construction the buoyant force of the liquid I 2,273,603 acting on the submerged rollers will tend to counterbalance downward forces such as the weight 'of the metal and the weight 01' the drums on. the rollers. Thus undue wear on the stuffing boxes 23 and bearings 24 is avoided. Although only one form of the invention has been shown and described, it is obvious that vari-' ous changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention and all of such changes are contemplated'as may come within the scope of the claims.

What I claim is: I 1. Apparatus forcleaning cylindrical contain ers comprising an-elongated tank :tor cleaning fluid, means extending longitudinally in saidit'ank for supporting a plurality of containers in end to end relationship in the cleaning fluid andIi'or simultaneously rotating the supported containers about their longitudinal axes, said supporting means being longitudinally inclined to cause endwise movement of the containers by gravity as they are rotated.

-2. Apparatus for cleaning cylindrical containtank of cleaning fluid while allowing fluid to enter the container openings, rotating the containers about their longitudinal axes while simultaneously causing the containers to progress endwise in line formation toward the other end of the elongated tank, and removing the cleansed containers one after another from said last mentioned end of the tank.

7. A continuous method of cleaning cylindrical containers having openings therein, comprising inserting said containers in end to end relationship one after another in one end oi an elongated tank oi cleaning fluid while allowing fluid to enter the container openings, supporting the line of containers in the tank on a incline extending downwardly toward the opposite end of the tank, and rotating the containers about their longitudinal axes to eflect a washing action and to causethe containers to progress endwise by gravity down the incline.

8. Apparatus for cleaning cylindrical containers comprising an elongated tank for cleaners comprising an elongated tank for cleaning fluid, spaced rollers extending longitudinallyin said tank for supporting a plurality of containers in end to end'relationship in the cleaning fluid,,

and means for rotating at least dne of said rollers to cause rotation of the containers about their longitudinal axes, said rollers being longitudinally inclined to cause endwise movement of the ,containers as they are rotated. 3. Apparatus for cleaning cylindrical containers comprising an elongated tank (for cleaning being "longitudinally inclined to cause endwise' movement of the containers as they are rotated.

' 4. Apparatus for cleaning cylindrical lcontainers comprising an elongated tank for cleaning fluid, three transversely spaced rollers extending I longitudinally in said tank for supporting a plurality of rows of containers with the containers in each row in end 'to end relationship in the cleaning fluid, and means for rotating said rollers to cause rotation of the containers about their longitudinal axes, said rollers being longitudinally inclined to cause endwise movement 01 the containers as they are rotated, the center roller being elevated above the rollers on each side.

\ Apparatus for cleaning cylindrical containers comprising an elongated tank for cleaning fluid, meansextending longitudinally in said tank for supporting a plurality of containers in end to end. relationship in the cleaning fluid and for simultaneously rotating the supported containers about their longitudinal axes, said; supp rting means being longitudinally inclined to cause endwise iiiovement of the containers by zravity as they are rotated, horizontally swingable hoisting mechanism positioned to engage and elevate the containers-after they have traveled the length of the tank, and means on said hoisting mechanism to provide {or tilting of the elevated containers to dischargefcleaning fluid thereirom.-

6. A continuous method'oi cleaning cylindrical containers having/openings therein, comprising rinserting said containers in end to, end relationing fluid, transversely spaced continuous rollers extending longitudinally in said tank in submerged condition for supporting a plurality of containers in end to end relationship in the cleaning fluid, bearings rotatably supporting said rollers, and means for rotating said rollers to.

cause rotation 01 the containers about their longitudinal axes, .said rollers having liquid-tight air chambers therein whereby the buoyant force of the liquid acting on said rollers will counterbalance the downward forces acting on the rollers to preventundue wear on the bearings.

-' -9. A continuous method of cleaning cylindrical containers, comprising inserting said containers in end to end relationship one after another in one end of an elongated tank of cleaning fluid, rotatingithe containers about their longitudinal axes while simultaneously causing the containers to progress endwise in line formation ixfivard the other end of the elongated tank, and removing the cleansed containers one after another from said last mentionedend'of the tank.

10. A continuous method 015 cleaning cylindrical containers, comprising inserting said containers in end to end relationship one after another in oneend of an elongated tank of cleaning fluid, supporting the line of containers in the tank on an incline extending downwardlytoward the opposite end of the tank, and rotating the containers about their longitudinal axes to'. eii'ect a washing action and to cause the containers to progress endwise by gravity down the. incline.

. 11. Apparatus for cleaning cylindrical .con-

' tainers, comprising an elongated tank for cleaning fluid, means including at least one'roller in submerged cbndition in said tank for supporting acontainer in the cleaningfluid, bearings rotatably supporting said roller, and means for rotat-- ingsaid roller to cause rotation of the container about its longitudinal axis, said roller having a liquid tight air chamber: therein whereby the 12. Apparatus for. cleaning cylindrical con- A tainers comprising an' elongated tank for cleaning fluid, transversely spaced rollers extending longitudinally in said tank for supporting a plurality of rows of, containers with the ship one after anotherin oneend or an elongated containers in each rowin end to end relation- 4- 2,a7s,eos-

ship in the cleaning fluid, means forrotating said. rollers to cause rotation of the containers about i supporting two containers side by side with the longitudinal axes of the containers parallel to the axes of the rollers, and means for rotating said rollers to cause rotation oi the containers A about their longitudinal axes, the center roller being elevated above the rollers on each side and being engageable with both containers.

THEODORE J. VERDEN. 

